I started this column in 2004, when garlic was named the herb of the year by the International Herb Association.

I wrote the first column about garlic. It is hard to believe I have been writing for eight years, starting out as a bi-monthly column and progressing into weekly. My how time flies when you are having a good time, and I have certainly had that.

It was Bingo time at the Carroll County Senior Center on Tuesday morning, drawing at least 20 gamers who were vying for snacks and “The Big Cash Prize” ... which one player quipped might buy a gallon of gas this week for the winner.

When people ask me what I do at my job at the newspaper, specifically what topics I write about, I tell them the shorthand version: old people, dead people and God.

Actually, I cover a lot more than that, but those three — old people, dead people and God — are the three areas that seem to fall to me. This past week I wrote stories about four people who had died, and only one of them I would consider old.

Of those four people, I attended three memorial services. As I write this, I have two services to attend in the coming week.